Anyone else into gardening at all? I'm only into hot peppers. I do some every year, usually buying plants from Walmart, but did a few from seed last year, and am planning on doing it again this year. Here's what I'm going to buy seeds of and start in a few weeks:

It's something I eventually want to do. I love hot peppers. Can eat them with anything. One of my favorite easy meals to make is just boling some pasta, and tossing it in a saute pan with some fresh garlic, grated romano, olive oil, and sliced hot peppers.

This will be my second summer in a home with a backyard I can do it in. Have no desire for a full blown garden ... maybe just a small one with some hot peppers, fresh basil, and other things I like to cook with.

"It's like dating a woman who hates you so much she will never break up with you, even if you burn down the house every single autumn." ~ Chuck Klosterman on Browns fans relationship with the Browns

Swerb wrote:It's something I eventually want to do. I love hot peppers. Can eat them with anything. One of my favorite easy meals to make is just boling some pasta, and tossing it in a saute pan with some fresh garlic, grated romano, olive oil, and sliced hot peppers.

This will be my second summer in a home with a backyard I can do it in. Have no desire for a full blown garden ... maybe just a small one with some hot peppers, fresh basil, and other things I like to cook with.

That's what im looking to do also. Only, id like to add some onions, garlic, and anything else that makes me smell irresistable.

Man, if you ever get the chance take a trip to Sicily. A stunning place with nice people and incredible food. Spent a week there with the wife (she speaks Italian) Only problem, good beer can be hard to find. Wine flows like.......well wine I guess. Only downside everyone kept asking my wife "si sono Meadow Soprano?" If you like your pasta rustic, Sicily is the place to go.

Thats how I like it pretty much what you described. Pasta, good quality olive oil, parmesan cheese chilli flakes, and garlic and some crispy Capicola is how we do it in my house.

Man, if you ever get the chance take a trip to Sicily. A stunning place with nice people and incredible food. Spent a week there with the wife (she speaks Italian) Only problem, good beer can be hard to find. Wine flows like.......well wine I guess. Only downside everyone kept asking my wife "si sono Meadow Soprano?" If you like your pasta rustic, Sicily is the place to go.

Thats how I like it pretty much what you described. Pasta, good quality olive oil, parmesan cheese chilli flakes, and garlic and some crispy Capicola is how we do it in my house.

My whole moms side is 100% Sicilian.

A trip to Italy is #2 on my "things to do before I croak" list behind witnessing a Cleveland sports championship.

"It's like dating a woman who hates you so much she will never break up with you, even if you burn down the house every single autumn." ~ Chuck Klosterman on Browns fans relationship with the Browns

Man, if you ever get the chance take a trip to Sicily. A stunning place with nice people and incredible food. Spent a week there with the wife (she speaks Italian) Only problem, good beer can be hard to find. Wine flows like.......well wine I guess. Only downside everyone kept asking my wife "si sono Meadow Soprano?" If you like your pasta rustic, Sicily is the place to go.

Thats how I like it pretty much what you described. Pasta, good quality olive oil, parmesan cheese chilli flakes, and garlic and some crispy Capicola is how we do it in my house.

My whole moms side is 100% Sicilian.

A trip to Italy is #2 on my "things to do before I croak" list behind witnessing a Cleveland sports championship.

Man, if you ever get the chance take a trip to Sicily. A stunning place with nice people and incredible food. Spent a week there with the wife (she speaks Italian) Only problem, good beer can be hard to find. Wine flows like.......well wine I guess. Only downside everyone kept asking my wife "si sono Meadow Soprano?" If you like your pasta rustic, Sicily is the place to go.

Thats how I like it pretty much what you described. Pasta, good quality olive oil, parmesan cheese chilli flakes, and garlic and some crispy Capicola is how we do it in my house.

My whole moms side is 100% Sicilian.

A trip to Italy is #2 on my "things to do before I croak" list behind witnessing a Cleveland sports championship.

Yeah you would love it over there, we were never on the mainland but if its like Sicily you will come back 10 pounds heavier. The cusine in Sicily has alot of good spice to it they have a pepper that looks like Okra, but tastes spicey sweet. I'd love to find it but no luck so far.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:Yeah you would love it over there, we were never on the mainland but if its like Sicily you will come back 10 pounds heavier. The cusine in Sicily has alot of good spice to it they have a pepper that looks like Okra, but tastes spicey sweet. I'd love to find it but no luck so far.

I've always wanted to go to Sicily and need to before I croak...I was born in Vicenza (Air Force Brat) and have been to Venice, Torino, etc up in the northeast, but never down south or to the isles...probably cook Italian food more than anything else in our house

Now on to the topic at hand, my wife is an avid gardener and grows plenty of peppers such as the usuals: Jalapeno, cayenne, serrano, anaheim, habanero, etc...the past couple of years she's experimented with bhut jolokia, rocoto, aji limon, lantern & tepin (some grew pretty well and some not so in our environment)...this year she's going to attempt yellow cayenne & tabasco peppers...can't wait for summer!!!

We grow the essential herbs such as basil, thyme, rosemary, cilantro, parsley, mint & chives (we just bought one of those Aerogardens for growing in the house and it was worth every penny...probably gonna buy a couple more)

The garden always has tomatos, peppers, cukes, green beans, zucchini, squash, scallions & garlic...love the idea of shallots and will have to try those as I use them in a lot of dishes...also keep a couple of cherry/grape tomatos growing in hanging pots around the deck

Great topic as I always love to hear other people's culinary/growing stories

Last year I grew habaneros, jalapenos, serranos, poblanos, Hungarian wax, Thai bird, and Fresno peppers. Started my herbs way too late, so I go almost nothing there, but I'll probably do them again this year, just starting earlier.

I listed my ones for this year already, that's one pepper from each continent and in every color except purple.

I'm planning on doing the peppers in pots this year so I can try to overwinter them easily. Might even try to make one into a bonchi (bonsai chili). There's a guy in Finland who has done some awesome bonchi plants. Just a warning, some of his site is in Finnish, and I can't translate any of it (I speak no Finnish aside from yksi, kaksi, paivaa, kiitos, mita kuuluu, vittu, and paska): http://www.fatalii.net/growing/index.ph ... Itemid=105

Man, if you ever get the chance take a trip to Sicily. A stunning place with nice people and incredible food. Spent a week there with the wife (she speaks Italian) Only problem, good beer can be hard to find. Wine flows like.......well wine I guess. Only downside everyone kept asking my wife "si sono Meadow Soprano?" If you like your pasta rustic, Sicily is the place to go.

Thats how I like it pretty much what you described. Pasta, good quality olive oil, parmesan cheese chilli flakes, and garlic and some crispy Capicola is how we do it in my house.

awesome place...went there on a school trip...

I dont know what was better, the food or the magnificient people...def. worth a trip!!!!

So this is how the world works. All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet...

Been getting it for 6-7 years now...it comes out every 2 months and they always have one primary topic (hot sauces, creole, bbq, tex-mex, etc) and many secondary (tequila, wines, growing, desserts, restaurants, etc)...each issue is around 100 pages and has probably around 60-70 recipes with a lot of pix and a lot of different gadgets to buy

Man, if you ever get the chance take a trip to Sicily. A stunning place with nice people and incredible food. Spent a week there with the wife (she speaks Italian) Only problem, good beer can be hard to find. Wine flows like.......well wine I guess. Only downside everyone kept asking my wife "si sono Meadow Soprano?" If you like your pasta rustic, Sicily is the place to go.

Thats how I like it pretty much what you described. Pasta, good quality olive oil, parmesan cheese chilli flakes, and garlic and some crispy Capicola is how we do it in my house.

My whole moms side is 100% Sicilian.

A trip to Italy is #2 on my "things to do before I croak" list behind witnessing a Cleveland sports championship.

Yeah you would love it over there, we were never on the mainland but if its like Sicily you will come back 10 pounds heavier. The cusine in Sicily has alot of good spice to it they have a pepper that looks like Okra, but tastes spicey sweet. I'd love to find it but no luck so far.

Let me be another to say that a trip to Italy is a must..... living this side of the pond it's obivously a lot easier for me, but I have been to Rome, Milan, Naples and Sorrento (on the Amalfi Coast, not far from Versuvious) and I have to say Italy is just an amalgamation of everything I love in life...... passionate about food and drink, relaxed about everything else, can spend an entire day just drinking espresso and smoking in whichever piazza you happen to be in. Oh, and if you're into all that stuff, there's a fair bit of history as well.

I love Italy so much that, even though I'm going to Vegas for 10 days next month, I've already booked a long weekend in Sorrento in August so that I can get my laid back Italian fix.

Very cool. As someone where you were back in '07 ... wanting to start to grow some peppers, keep us posted on the updates with the blog.

Will do, I'll be posting stuff on it almost every day (hopefully a lot of recipes, plant status updates, whatever comes to mind really), but anytime something major happens (first sprouts, first leaves, transplanting, first peppers, etc.) I'll mention it in this thread.

Got my first sprouts this week: 2 cayenne, 2 jalapeno, 3 sweet banana, 1 Hungarian wax, 2 Zimbabwe bird, 5 Thai extra hot, and 1 chocolate habanero. Within the next week or so, I'll be taking the dome off the seed tray, and hopefully starting some new seeds as well.

I also picked up a few plants from the local nursery: a serrano, a New Mexico Big Jim, an Apache, and a Navajo. Still looking for a Fresno, though I may have found some seeds to salvage from my plant last year.

The Hungarian wax and sweet banana peppers are rocking, as is the New Mexico Big Jim. Gotten a few nice orange habaneros out as well.

I was able to find a Fresno plant and it's set to churn out a kickass crop. The cayennes are growing peppers as well. Got a few Tasmanian habaneros that are growing nicely too. If everything goes as it looks to be, I should be knee deep in peppers in a month or so.

Peppers (from mildest to hottest):Yellow bell: nothing here yetMohawk hybrid: Gotten a few, not a big fan. They're essentially an orange baby bell, kind of bitter.Anaheim: Nothing here yetSweet banana: Awesome. Just picked and cut a couple up on a sub.Santa Fe Grande: Nothing yetNew Mexico Big Jim: Had a bout of end rot, but got over it with some calcium and epsom saltsNew Mexico 6-4L: NothingSandia: got a couple, should be good for dryingCherry: Only gotten one so far, but it was excellentHungarian hot wax: Awesome. Put one on my sub with the sweet banana as well.Hungarian black: Nothing here yet eitherJalapeno: Plants are looking good, should be bearing fruit soonApache hybrid: Big time producer, not the best I've ever tasted though. Should be good for drying and making into powderFresno: Set to kick ass. A great pepper, and I got a great plant.Cayenne and Long slim red: Growing tons of green ones, should have a nice crop soonSerrano: Underwhelming this year. Last year I had a BIG time producer for a plantAji pineapple: Started these late, but should get a few peppers from it, as I have two small ones on one plantTabasco: Had one kickass plant that is now on its last legs. Got another as a backup that hasn't done anything yetZimbabwe bird: Should habe a bunch here very soonYellow rocoto: Had to move these indoors, as they normally grow in the Andes mountains and don't like the 100+ degree heat here in Texas. No peppers yetChiltepin: Tons of tiny green ones, should be going red soon.Fatalii: Nothing here, these are tough to grow, I've been told.Orange habanero: Gotten a few off the plant, excellent heat and flavor.Chocolate habanero: Nothing yet, but it's still early.Mustard habanero: Same as the Chocolate.Tasmanian habanero: Got a few on the plant, just waiting for them to fully ripen.Caribbean red habanero: Nothing yet, still earlyBhut jolokia: Starting to flower, which has me ecstatic.

I also have a bunch that are unlabeled so I have no idea what I'm getting from them. One of them is growing tiny dark purple peppers. I'll have to post a photo.

The Hungarian wax and sweet banana peppers are rocking, as is the New Mexico Big Jim. Gotten a few nice orange habaneros out as well.

I was able to find a Fresno plant and it's set to churn out a kickass crop. The cayennes are growing peppers as well. Got a few Tasmanian habaneros that are growing nicely too. If everything goes as it looks to be, I should be knee deep in peppers in a month or so.

Peppers (from mildest to hottest):Yellow bell: nothing here yetMohawk hybrid: Gotten a few, not a big fan. They're essentially an orange baby bell, kind of bitter.Anaheim: Nothing here yetSweet banana: Awesome. Just picked and cut a couple up on a sub.Santa Fe Grande: Nothing yetNew Mexico Big Jim: Had a bout of end rot, but got over it with some calcium and epsom saltsNew Mexico 6-4L: NothingSandia: got a couple, should be good for dryingCherry: Only gotten one so far, but it was excellentHungarian hot wax: Awesome. Put one on my sub with the sweet banana as well.Hungarian black: Nothing here yet eitherJalapeno: Plants are looking good, should be bearing fruit soonApache hybrid: Big time producer, not the best I've ever tasted though. Should be good for drying and making into powderFresno: Set to kick ass. A great pepper, and I got a great plant.Cayenne and Long slim red: Growing tons of green ones, should have a nice crop soonSerrano: Underwhelming this year. Last year I had a BIG time producer for a plantAji pineapple: Started these late, but should get a few peppers from it, as I have two small ones on one plantTabasco: Had one kickass plant that is now on its last legs. Got another as a backup that hasn't done anything yetZimbabwe bird: Should habe a bunch here very soonYellow rocoto: Had to move these indoors, as they normally grow in the Andes mountains and don't like the 100+ degree heat here in Texas. No peppers yetChiltepin: Tons of tiny green ones, should be going red soon.Fatalii: Nothing here, these are tough to grow, I've been told.Orange habanero: Gotten a few off the plant, excellent heat and flavor.Chocolate habanero: Nothing yet, but it's still early.Mustard habanero: Same as the Chocolate.Tasmanian habanero: Got a few on the plant, just waiting for them to fully ripen.Caribbean red habanero: Nothing yet, still earlyBhut jolokia: Starting to flower, which has me ecstatic.

I also have a bunch that are unlabeled so I have no idea what I'm getting from them. One of them is growing tiny dark purple peppers. I'll have to post a photo.

They grow outside India, but the potency varies a lot more. I know they grew them jut fine at the Chile Pepper Institute in New Mexico, and I know a few growers around the country who have been able to do them. I've heard they can get pretty picky about temperature, that fruit won't set below 75 or above 85. Mine is flowering right now, so we'll see if anything comes of it. We won't cool down into that range for another month or so, but I'll be hoping.

If you want a pepper that doesn't grow well anywhere except one place, check out a Datil. It originated in St. Augustine, FL and rarely grows well outside there. No one knows exactly why.

After this, I decided to move everything around so I could get photos of everything together easily. It ain't fun moving a bunch of small pots around in 100-degree heat. Thankfully, it's almost entirely under the shade of a huge magnolia tree, so it could be worse. Also, as you'll see they haven't gotten their afternoon watering yet, so the leaves are pretty droopy. They'll get it after I type all this out.

Our yellow bell has no peppers yet, but does have a few flowers on it. Hopefully we'll get something from that.

Wax peppers are pretty versatile. They're great on sandwiches, pickled... I could probably think of more uses but I'll keep it short. In the photo are Hungarian hot wax, sweet banana, and Sante Fe grande peppers.

The lone member of the baccatum species in my collection is the aji pineapple. I've never had them before, but they sounded good. Nice heat, citrusy, almost pineapple flavor, and a golden yellow, sometimes almost golden brown color. I have a couple small ones growing on one of the plants.

My apache was the first to grow fruit. Not the best flavor, but was a good producer. Probably won't grow these in the future.

The hottest ones: the bhut jolokia. I have four plants total growing right now. I had to move the one on the middle right to a larger pot after taking this picture. When I moved it back to its position, I noticed a ton of roots peeking out the bottom hole in the pot. No peppers yet, but several flowers.

The New Mexico Big Jim is a favorite of mine. Big peppers, good green or red. I have two red ones drying right not, and had a nice crop of green ones last year that I roasted. I have about five on the plant now that are starting to turn red.

Washington also grew cayennes at Mount Vernon. I have at least two varieties of cayenne here: one cultivated by Joe Arditi of PepperJoe.com that grows pretty big, and also one he calls a "long slim red chile" that seems to be pretty similar. I have a few in the middle of a color change going green to red that oddly enough, makes an almost black color.

Jalapenos: Really didn't grow well at all. The few I got were very small and got damaged by insects very quickly. They're cheap enough to buy, so I may not bother with them in the future.

Yellow bell: The dangers of transplanting. The plant was getting two decent sized peppers and outgrowing its smaller pot, so I decided I'd try to move it. I managed to snap the stem pretty well, so instead of ending up with a couple nice sized yellow peppers, I got two small green ones. Live and learn.

Hungarian hot wax and Sweet banana: Decent producers early in the season, nothing in the hot summer months. I'm still planning on doing a couple next year, but I'll keep them in a cooler, or at least shadier spot so they aren't getting direct sun from 10 am to 3 pm.

Aji pineapple: One of my new favorites. Late producer, great flavor. I'm planning on overwintering one or two of them.

Apache: Not a fan, won't be growing next year.

Bhut jolokia: Simply awesome, another I'm planning on overwintering.

NuMex Big Jim: Great producer from early to late in the season once I got over the end rot problems. Even now on November 1, I have a good 4 or 5 big green ones still on the plant. A keeper for next year.

NuMex 6-4L, Anaheim, Sandia: Not as good of producers as the Big Jim. I might try a Sandia again next year, but won't bother with the other two, which are so similar to (but smaller than) the Big Jim.

Zimbabwe Bird: Another favorite of mine, three plants still producing. Small too, so I might be able to put one on my desk at work over the winter.

Chiltepin: Usually a slow producer, I had a lot of green ones on the plant for a long time, but once they ripened, I had tons coming off for a few weeks. Definitely keeping this one over the winter.

Tabasco: My first tabasco plant was great then mysteriously died. The second one I bought produced nothing. I'm going to try to keep it over the winter, but won't expect much out of it.

Cayenne: Another excellent producer, might not overwinter, but I will certainly plant more next season.

Cherry: Had a good couple of weeks, but then quit producing. Probably not going to bother with it next year.

Fresno: Always a favorite of mine, did not disappoint this year. Will do again next year.

Serrano: Not as big a producer as my plant from two years ago, but that was a real shocker as to how much I got from it. Planning on keeping this one around as it still has some small ones on it here in November. 22 in fact, when I counted this afternoon.

Fatalii: Got nothing from it. Heard they're really stubborn though, so I'll try it again next year. Might even try to overwinter my current one.

Mohawk: Hated it.

Orange habanero: Always a good one for me, this year was no exception. Going to keep it around as well.

Rocoto: No production, but I also had to have it indoors for a long time. Will try to overwinter one, maybe two.

I dried a lot of what I grew this year (and what I bought, as I found some great red jalapenos and red habaneros at the Mexican grocery store here) and plan to grind everything up into powder. Should make for some excellent additives to various foods.

My son who's 11 loves hot peppers and sauce...ever since he was 5...so last year he wants to plant some...I thought great...let him learn more responsibility from caring for a plant. I had him doing flowers when he was around 7 or 8...but this was something that he would be eating the end result...I took him to Home depot, he picked a couple of seranno and jalapeno plants...took excellent care of 'em...they shot up to about a foot and a half, close to 2 ft....developed baby peppers and he was so excited watching those babies growing...then one morning he comes into the house crying that everything was chewed up. The damn deer ate them...